Yan Dziarzhautsau, Vitsebsk activist of the Conservative Christian Party “Belarusian Popular Front”.

Yan Dziarzhautsau,
member of the Conservative Christian Party “Belarusian Popular Front”, keeps fighting
for the right to express his views during pickets and other mass events. The
order of these events is regulated by Decision No. 881 by Vitsebsk city executive
committee. The opposition activist tried
to sue the city’s utilities, an organization that, in his opinion, violates the
decision of the executive committee and hinders the implementation of the right
to freedom of expression.

Yan Dziarzhautsau
lodged a lawsuit with Vitsebsk Kastrychnitski District Court against deputy chief
of the “Vitsebsk city utilities” enterprise Vadzim Ilyinets. According to the
CCP BPF member, refusing to conclude a contract for the cleaning of the
territory after the mass event, the official violated the above-mentioned decision.
Meanwhile, one cannot obtain permission to hold an event without such an
agreement. Yan Dziarzhautsau believes that Vadzim Ilyinets violated his civil
and political rights and inflicted emotional distress. Judge Viktoryia Leshchanka
dismissed the activist’s claim for moral damages. She also turned down the
other requirements of the applicant: to issue a separate ruling for Vitsebsk
city executive committee on the need to strengthen the control over the
implementation of Directive No. 2 of the President of the Republic of Belarus.

The
Directive requires to get rid of formalism and red tape in the activities of government
officials. Meanwhile, according to many Vitsebsk activists, these are the
effects caused by the above decision of Vitsebsk executive authorities. Yan Dziarzhautsau
cites his latest experience, when he could not get a permit for the event planned
for November 7 last year.

According
to the requirements of the Decree, Yan Dziarzhautsau had to apply to “Vitsebsk
city utilities” for signing a contract for clean-up after the mass event. However,
the bid was refused by a decision signed by Vadzim Ilyinets, where he wrote
that the contracts should be addressed to other enterprises, “Gordormost” and “Zelenhoz”.
But none of the state agencies, who are actually responsible for the
cleanliness and order on the streets of Vitsebsk, is mentioned in the decision
on the organization of mass events. This fact makes the decision practically
impossible.

Yan Dziarzhautsau
believes that decision No. 881 must be respected by not only the citizens who
want to make a public event, but the institutions listed in this decision.
Therefore, they should be either forced to enter into treaties, or executive
committee should improve the decision itself, the content of which is a contradiction.

But Kastrychnitski
District Court saw no reason to punish deputy manager of “Vitsebsk city
utilities” Vadzim Ilyinets for failing to implement a decision of the city
authorities. Meanwhile, the executive officials refuse to reconsider their
decision: Vitsebsk activists have repeatedly called for such amendments, but
the responses they received notified that the decision had been recorded in the
State Register of Legal Acts, and there are no contradictions in it.

Because of
this, over the past few years not a single public event applied for by local
democratic activists has been authorized in Vitsebsk. Therefore, according to Yan
Dziarzhautsau, the authorities violate the rights of the citizens guaranteed by
the Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.